Bacterial biofilms are highly resilient microbial assemblies that are difficult to eradicate. See, e.g., Costerton, J. W.; Stewart, P. S.; Greenburg, E. P. Bacterial Biofilms: A Common Cause of Persistent Infections. Science 1999, 284, 1318-1322. These robust biofilms frequently occur on synthetic implants and indwelling medical devices including urinary catheters, arthro-prostheses, and dental implants. See, e.g., Lindsay, D.; von Holy, A. Bacterial Biofilms within the Clinical Setting: What Healthcare Professionals Should Know. J. Hosp. Infect. 2006, 64, 313-325; Costerton, J. W.; Montanaro, L.; Arciola, C. R. Biofilm in Implant Infections: Its Production and Regulation. Int. J. Artif. Organs 2005, 28, 1062-1068; Busscher, H. J.; Rinastiti, M.; Siswomihardjo, W.; van der Mei, H. C. Biofilm Formation on Dental Restorative and Implant Materials. J. Dent. Res. 2010, 89, 657-665. Biofilm proliferation can also occur on dead or living tissues, leading to endocarditis, otitis media, and chronic wounds. See, e.g., Costerton, W.; Veeh, R.; Shirtliff, M.; Pasmore, M.; Post, C.; Ehrlich, G. The Application of Biofilm Science to the Study and Control of Chronic Bacterial Infections. J. Clin. Invest. 2003, 112, 1466-1477; Ehrlich, G.; Veeh, R.; Wang, X.; Costerton, J. W.; Hayes, J. D.; Hu, F. Z.; Daigle, B. J.; Ehrlich, M. D.; Post, J. C. Mucosal Biofilm Formation on Middle-Ear Mucosa in the Chinchilla Model of Otitis Media. JAMA 2002, 287, 1710; James, G. A; Swogger, E.; Wolcott, R.; Pulcini, E. deLancey; Secor, P.; Sestrich, J.; Costerton, J. W.; Stewart, P. S. Biofilms in Chronic Wounds. Wound Repair Regen. 2007, 16, 37-44. The persistent infections and their concomitant diseases are challenging to treat, as biofilms develop a high resistance to host immune responses and the extracellular polymeric substances limit antibiotic penetration into biofilms. See, e.g., Stewart, P. S.; Costerton, J. W. Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria in Biofilms. Lancet 2001, 358, 135-138; Szomolay, B.; Klapper, I.; Dockery, J.; Stewart, P. S. Adaptive Responses to Antimicrobial Agents in Biofilms. Environ. Microbiol. 2005, 7, 1186-1191. Current techniques to remove biofilms on man-made surfaces include disinfecting the surface with bleach or other caustic agents. See, e.g., Marion-Ferey, K.; Pasmore, M.; Stoodley, P.; Wilson, S.; Husson, G. P.; Costerton, J. W. Biofilm Removal from Silicone Tubing: An Assessment of the Efficacy of Dialysis Machine Decontamination Procedures Using an in Vitro Model. J. Hosp. Infect. 2003, 53, 64-71. Biofilms in biomedical contexts are very challenging, with therapies based on excising infected tissues combined with long-term antibiotic therapy, incurring high health care costs and low patient compliance due to the invasive treatment. See, e.g., Lynch, A. S.; Robertson, G. T. Bacterial and Fungal Biofilm Infections. Annu. Rev. Med. 2008, 59, 415-428. This issue is exacerbated by the exponential rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria. See, e.g., Levy, S. B.; Marshall, B. Antibacterial Resistance Worldwide: Causes, Challenges and Responses. Nat. Med. 2004, 10, S122-S129.
Phytochemicals have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional antimicrobials to treat antibiotic resistant bacteria. See, e.g., Kalemba, D.; Kunicka, A. Antibacterial and Antifungal Properties of Essential Oils. Curr. Med. Chem. 2003, 10, 813-829; Hemaiswarya, S.; Kruthiventi, A. K.; Doble, M. Synergism between Natural Products and Antibiotics against Infectious Diseases. Phytomedicine 2008, 15, 639-652. These essential oils and natural compounds are of particular interest as “green” antimicrobial agents due to their low-cost, biocompatibility, and potential anti-biofilm properties. See, e.g., Burt, S. Essential Oils: Their Antibacterial Properties and Potential Applications in Foods—a Review. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2004, 94, 223-253; Kavanaugh, N. L.; Ribbeck, K. Selected Antimicrobial Essential Oils Eradicate Pseudomonas Spp. and Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilms. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2012, 78, 4057-4061; Nostro, A.; Sudano Roccaro, A.; Bisignano, G.; Marino, A.; Cannatelli, M. A; Pizzimenti, F. C.; Cioni, P. L.; Procopio, F.; Blanco, A. R. Effects of Oregano, Carvacrol and Thymol on Staphylococcus Aureus and Staphylococcus Epidermidis Biofilms. J. Med. Microbiol. 2007, 56, 519-523. The generally poor aqueous solubility and stability of these oils has substantially limited their widespread application. See, e.g., Chen, H.; Davidson, P. M.; Zhong, Q. Impacts of Sample Preparation Methods on Solubility and Antilisterial Characteristics of Essential Oil Components in Milk. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 2014, 80, 907-916. Engineering nanomaterials provides a potential platform to prevent payload degradation and to tune molecular interactions with bacteria. See, e.g., Carpenter, A. W.; Worley, B. V; Slomberg, D. L.; Schoenfisch, M. H. Dual Action Antimicrobials: Nitric Oxide Release from Quaternary Ammonium-Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles. Biomacromolecules 2012, 13, 3334-3342; Zhu, X.; Radovic-Moreno, A. F.; Wu, J.; Langer, R.; Shi, J. Nanomedicine in the Management of Microbial Infection—Overview and Perspectives. Nano Today 2014, 9, 478-498; Radovic-Moreno, A. F.; Lu, T. K.; Puscasu, V. a; Yoon, C. J.; Langer, R.; Farokhzad, 0. C. Surface Charge-Switching Polymeric Nanoparticles for Bacterial Cell Wall-Targeted Delivery of Antibiotics. ACS Nano 2012, 6, 4279-4287; Goswami, S.; Thiyagarajan, D.; Das, G.; Ramesh, A. Biocompatible Nanocarrier Fortified with a Dipyridinium-Based Amphiphile for Eradication of Biofilm. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2014, 6, 16384-16394. Previous reports have shown that encapsulating essential oils into surfactant-stabilized colloidal delivery vehicles improves their aqueous stability and increases the antimicrobial activity of small molecule payloads. See, e.g., Chang, Y.; McLandsborough, L.; McClements, D. J. Physicochemical Properties and Antimicrobial Efficacy of Carvacrol Nanoemulsions Formed by Spontaneous Emulsification. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2013, 61, 8906-8913; Liang, R.; Xu, S.; Shoemaker, C. F.; Li, Y.; Zhong, F.; Huang, Q. Physical and Antimicrobial Properties of Peppermint Oil Nanoemulsions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2012, 60, 7548-7555; Gomes, C.; Moreira, R. G.; Castell-Perez, E. Poly (DL-Lactide-Co-Glycolide) (PLGA) Nanoparticles with Entrapped Trans-Cinnamaldehyde and Eugenol for Antimicrobial Delivery Applications. J. Food Sci. 2011, 76, N16-N24. However, these carriers often induce adverse hemolytic or irritating effects restricting their compatibility with biological tissues. See, e.g., Shalel, S.; Streichman, S.; Marmur, A. The Mechanism of Hemolysis by Surfactants: Effect of Solution Dispersion. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 2002, 252, 66-76; Wilhelm, K.-P.; Freitag, G.; Wolff, H. H. Surfactant-Induced Skin Irritation and Skin Repair. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 1994, 30, 944-949.
Therefore there remains a need to develop improved carrier systems to achieve effective encapsulation and delivery of essential oils for antimicrobial applications. Polymer-stabilized nanocapsules provide an analogous route to encapsulate hydrophobic materials within a self-assembled polymer shell that is highly resistant to coalescence. Furthermore, polymers embedded at the oil/water interface can also be amenable to post-assembly functionalization to create structurally diverse carriers not achievable when using surfactant stabilized emulsions.